Developing the System for Observing Behavioral Ecology for Youth in Schools Instrument

Area of Science:

• Behavioral science
• Public health
• Educational psychology

Background:

• Physical activity (PA) interventions in schools are promising but lack concurrent data collection for PA and behavioral support.
• Existing observation systems do not capture the behavioral ecological context of PA.
• There is a need for a validated instrument to assess behavioral support during school-based PA.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop and validate the System for Observing Behavioral Ecology for Youth in Schools (SOBEYS).
• To create an instrument capable of recording behavioral support for PA within a school setting.
• To enable concurrent measurement of PA and behavioral support.

Main Methods:

• Behavioral categories for prompting and reinforcement of PA were developed by experts in 2013.
• The SOBEYS system was implemented in a suburban junior high school (N=1452) during spring 2014.
• The system was refined through multiple field trials.

Main Results:

• The SOBEYS instrument successfully recorded visual/verbal prompting, verbal/nonreinforcement, and token reinforcement.
• Construct validity was established.
• Acceptable interobserver agreement was achieved (>90% with kappa values from 0.22 to 0.94).

Conclusions:

• Trained users can reliably use SOBEYS to record behavioral support for PA.
• SOBEYS integrates with existing PA observation instruments.
• This tool facilitates the assessment of PA context and quantity alongside behavioral support.